MAN INDICTED ON KIDNAPPING, RAPE CHARGES OUT ON BOND AFTER VICTIM COMMITS SUICIDE
A man indicted on kidnapping, rape and weapons charges is out of jail, free on a personal recognizance bond. Now, it's possible all charges against him could be dropped.
Dwight Orr Jr. is accused of raping 18-year-old Garon Hall at gunpoint. Hall, who is the only witness in the case, later committed suicide.
"The case the State has, has been substantially weakened," Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien told NBC4's Tom Sussi.
Without Hall's testimony, O'Brien said charges against Orr might be dropped.
"I don't want to comment on how we access it Tom, simply because we're in the process of accessing where we're at without the victim. Obviously, we understand our case in substantially impaired without a victim in a sexual assault case," O'Brien said.
Details of the case are spelled out in the four-page indictment. On April 22, Hall says Orr raped him at gunpoint at Orr's former home on Mountaineer Trail Court in Reynoldsburg.
O'Brien wouldn't discuss the particulars.
"The detective is actually trying to gather new information to see if any new information will assist us to go forward.," he said.
Fighting back tears, Hall's mother, Terri Olmedo, shared with Sussi some of the details she said her son shared with her.
Olmedo said Hall first met Orr at a UDF store on Tussing Road where Hall worked. Orr lived about a block away.
Olmedo doubts her son knew anything about Orr's violent past, which included three stints in prison for involuntary manslaughter, burglary, and fleeing police with a loaded stolen handgun in his car.
The night of the alleged attack, Olmedo said Hall and two of his friends went to Orr's house to party.
"They were over there to get high," Olmedo said. "They were playing video games and hanging out."
Olmedo said her son stuck around after his friends left.
"Garon said that's when he had a gun on him. He pulled the gun out, and he raped him at gunpoint," Olmedo claims.
Olmedo said her son broke free, ran out of Orr's house, about a block away to the UDF store on Tussing Road, where he called his mother.
"He was half-dressed, he was shaking, and he was scared for his life," Olmedo said.
On June 29, he hanged himself. He died on July 3.
Olmedo said he left behind a note, which Olmedo read to Sussi.
"Sorry for doing this to you guys. I love all of you with all of my heart. I'm sorry I was not strong enough for this world. It's all just too much for me to handle. I don't want to go, but my head is destroying me. The thoughts are too much for me to handle. I want them to stop."
Olmedo said her son completed a rape kit at the hospital and gave statements to police. She said police didn't find a gun, nor are there any witnesses.
"The question will really boil down to whether or not we have enough evidence to go forward without the presence of the victim," O'Brien said.
The trial is set for August 9. On that day, O'Brien said this case will either move forward, or charges will be dropped.
Message from Executive Director Laura A. Ahearn: Parents for Megan's Law and the Crime Victims Center provides prevention education, advocacy, counseling and other valuable support services to child and adult victims of sexual assault and to all victims of violent crime. Please visit our website at www.parentsformeganslaw.org for news, information and resources in your community.
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